CFHT MegaPrime/MegaCam u-band source catalogue of the AKARI North Ecliptic Pole Wide field

Abstract

ABSTRACT The $AKARI$ infrared (IR) space telescope conducted two surveys (Deep and Wide) in the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) field to find more than 100 000 IR sources using its infrared camera (IRC). IRC’s nine filters, which cover wavebands from 2 to 24 μm continuously, make $AKARI$ unique in comparison with other IR observatories such as $Spitzer$ or $WISE$. However, studies of the $AKARI$ NEP-Wide field sources had been limited due to the lack of follow-up observations in the ultraviolet (UV) and optical. In this work, we present the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope MegaPrime/MegaCam u-band source catalogue of the $AKARI$ NEP-Wide field. The observations were taken in seven nights in 2015 and 2016, resulting in 82 observed frames covering 3.6 deg$^2$. The data reduction, image processing, and source extraction were performed in a standard procedure using the elixir pipeline and the astromatic software, and eventually 351 635 sources have been extracted. The data quality is discussed in two regions (shallow and deep) separately, due to the difference in the total integration time (4520 and 13 910 s). The 5$\sigma$ limiting magnitude, seeing full width at half-maximum, and the magnitude at 50 per cent completeness are 25.38 mag (25.79 mag in the deep region), 0.82 arcsec (0.94 arcsec), and 25.06 mag (25.45 mag), respectively. The u-band data provide us with critical improvements to photometric redshifts and UV estimates of the precious infrared sources from the $AKARI$ space telescope.